Rick has been a member of the CB West Bucks for three years. Despite his tremendous drive and determination Rick has experienced several serious injuries that have prevented him from being on the football field. He labored through the recovery from TWO separate collisions that resulted in concussions. One was even diagnosed as a brain bleed. He was advised at one point that he may never play football again. However, Rick was determined to return to the gridiron.

Rick and his family sought out specialists to properly diagnose his predisposition to head trauma. This process took several months of testing and monitoring to come to a final conclusion. So anxious to return to a competitive sport, Rick took up tennis as a sport and played for the school team. He wanted to regain that competitive edge that is developed in playing Varsity sports and tennis was one of very few options for him. In the end, Rick was cleared to participate in football for his senior year. Determined to work harder than ever to be a contributor to the team, Rick hit the weights and was running every day to build up his power and endurance in preparation for the fall football season.

Unfortunately for Rick and his teammates, he tore a muscle in his quad during the summer prior to his senior year and would miss the majority of his July, August and September months of his senior year. He did not hang his head, but instead worked harder on his upper body workouts to gain some competitive edge.

Rick finally returned to his team in full pads in the 3rd week of September and continues to inspire his teammates to persevere in the face of adversity.

Rick works with the youth in our community in the summer as a volunteer at camp. He was LOVED by all that went to the camp, but especially by the campers assigned to him. He would frequently let the young kids chase him around and try to tackle him or have a catch with the kid who wasn't on everyone's "First Pick" list. His campers would wear his football jersey during camp because they wanted to "BE LIKE RICK." On the last day of camp, he even signed a pair of his own spikes and gave them to a young boy with considerably lesser abilities than those of his peers and he told the boy, "Never let someone else tell you that it can't be done. Prove them wrong." Inspirational words from a 17-year old kid.

More important than his words, Rick's actions and selflessness are a testament to his character and serves as an inspiration to our community as a whole.

• C.B. West’s Reynolds shrugs off hard knocks